60 REPORTS. 



Stallions and marcs Ab-el-Kader says : " Arabs prefer mares 

 to Stallions for the following reasons : first that they look at 

 the profit which may arise from a mare as very considerable. 

 Some breeders have realized $20,000 from the produce of a 

 mare. They have a proverb, ' The fountainhead of riches is a 

 mare that produces a mare.' This is corroborated by Mahomet 

 who said, ' Let mares be preferred, their bellies are a treasure, 

 their backs the seat of honor.' ' Tiic greatest blessing is an 

 intelligent wife, or a mare that produces plenty of foals.' 

 These words are thus explained : Their bellies are a treasure, 

 because the mare by her produce increases the riches of her 

 master ; and their backs are the seat of honor, because the 

 pace -of a mare is easier than that of a horse; and there be 

 those that say it is sufficiently so as in time to render a horse- 

 man effeminate. The second reason is, that a marc does not 

 neigh in war, that she bears hunger, thirst and heat better 

 than a horse, and that therefore, she is more useful to people 

 whose riches consist of camels and sheep. Our camels and 

 sheep thrive only in the desert, where the soil is so arid, that 

 Arabs drinking chiefly milk, find water seldom, oftener than 

 every eight or ten days, in consequence of the distances be- 

 tween the pasturages found in the neighborhoods of wells. 

 The mare, like the Serpent, increases her powers in hot weath- 

 er and in arid Countries. Serpents living in cold or wet 

 Countries have little venom, or courage, whereas those living in 

 hot and arid Countries are more irritable and the virulence of 

 their poison is greatly increased. While the horse less easily 

 bears the heat of the sun, the mare finds her energies increased 

 by the greatest heat. The third reason is that a mare requires 

 less care and less nourishment. The owner can lead and turn 

 her out to graze with the sheep and camels and not be obliged 



